"Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love
of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into
the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for
our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. " 1 John
3:7-11
The Lord moved us to our current place of worship a year ago
this month. When the Lord placed us there He knew that we would grow
spiritually and make special bonds, but more importantly that we would grow
closer to Him in our individual walks. And the Lord has taught me much,
personally. He has placed me around a group of believers who
love Him and desire earnestly to serve Him. These precious ones have
accepted me as I am and are helping me, unbeknownst to them,
overcome doubts, uncertainties and fears from my past, that at times still
plague me. The Lord has given me such a love for my sisters and
brothers here. And He has equally given them a love for each other
and it is this love that is evident the moment you reach the doors, before you
ever get inside.
Verse nine of this passage tells us how the love of God was
manifested toward us, and we read that it was manifested through His only
begotten Son, that we might live through Him. It is through Jesus that the
love of God is demonstrated through us to those around us. This love is
not an emotion or a feeling. We can find the definition of this love in 1
Cor. 13:4-8a, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not
jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it
does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong
suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all thing, hopes all things, endures all
things. Love never fails." After reading this definition of
love I see a little clearer into the character of the Holy God I choose to
serve, "for God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8,16), He's all the above listed and so much
more.
It was His love that drew us to our current church home; we
saw an example of God's love being manifested before us through His
people.
Let us surrender completely to our Lord and allow Him to
love all those He places around us; especially those who seem
unlovable.
May the love of Jesus manifest through us today and the days to
come.
Have a joyous day in our
Lord!
April
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